JP3039214B2 - Data converter - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data conversion apparatus for converting outline data representing the shape of the outline of a character such as a character or symbol into dot data representing the on / off state of a pixel of an output device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, it is well known that characters in various fonts are used in the printing industry. Even in the same font, the line width of the image portion of the character and the overall shape of the character are known. In addition, many family fonts differing in the shape of details and other elements are also used. Various fonts and their family fonts are properly used depending on the use, design, size, etc., of the printed matter and the printing format. Therefore, it is desired to mount as many typeface font data as possible on an output device such as a printer.

However, in order to mount more fonts on the output device, a storage device having a capacity approximately proportional to the number of fonts is required.

Conventionally, as a technique for storing and outputting family fonts with as little storage capacity as possible, there has been a technique which is generated by using an interpolation technique. That is, for example, by preparing two outline data for specifying the outline shape of a thick character and a thin character, outline data for specifying the outline shape of a character having a middle thickness between two characters by mathematical interpolation Is generated. According to this technology, outline data of an arbitrary intermediate shape can be generated only by storing outline data of two typefaces, and dot data is generated by filling the outline data and output by a printing device or the like. It was possible.

[0005]

However, in some cases, the outline data of a middle character as a result of the interpolation overlaps and crosses a constituent line of the character. For example, the outline data 23 generated by interpolation from the two outline data 21 and 22 indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 2 has a portion 24 overlapping and crossing the component line.

In the case where such outline data is to be painted out and output, if the contour lines overlap, the overlapped portion may not be painted depending on the method of painting. For example, there is an even-odd fill rule (hereinafter abbreviated as EO fill) which is widely used as a typical method of filling.

[0007] A method of painting with the EO fill will be described below. First, it is assumed that a plurality of scanning line vectors parallel to each other are superimposed on outline data. Next, the intersection of each scanning line vector and the outline data is obtained,
The intersections are sorted in the direction of the scanning line vector and numbered sequentially from 0. The dot data on each scanning line vector is determined by turning on the dots included in the range from the even-numbered intersection to the odd-numbered intersection using the information of the intersection. The EO fill is a widely used filling method because the algorithm is relatively simple.

However, this method has a drawback that if the contour lines overlap, the overlapping portion is not painted. Therefore, the outline data 23 of FIG.
Is painted out with an EO fill, the overlapped portions are missing white as shown in FIG. That is, in the method of the related art, the method of the filling process is limited.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and does not limit the method of a filling process as a lower-order process. An object of the present invention is to provide a data conversion device for outputting data.

[0010]

In order to achieve this object, a data converter according to the present invention stores first outline data and second outline data having a family relationship with the first outline data. Outline data storage means, the first outline data and the second outline data.
Interpolation rate instructing means for instructing an interpolation rate with the outline data, and interpolating at the indicated interpolation rate to generate third outline data having a family relationship with the first and second outline data. Interpolating means, and hidden line forming means for generating fourth outline data excluding a portion crossing a constituent line of the character of the outline indicated by the third outline data, and converting the fourth outline data into dot data It is configured to be.

[0011]

According to the data conversion apparatus of the present invention having the above-described structure, the first outline data and the second outline data having a family relationship with the first outline data are read out from the outline data storage means.
The interpolation rate between the first outline data and the second outline data is indicated by the interpolation rate indicating means, and the interpolation is performed by the interpolation means at the specified interpolation rate.
Third outline data having a family relationship with the first and second outline data is generated, and a fourth outline excluding a portion that crosses a constituent line of a character of a contour line indicated by the third outline data is generated by a hidden line creating unit. Data is generated, and the fourth outline data is converted into dot data.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

This embodiment is an example in which the present invention is suitably applied to an outline font processing unit of a laser printer.
The laser printer according to the present embodiment stores outline data of extra-fine fonts and outline data of extra-large fonts, and outputs family fonts having different weights (character line widths) by the processing of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a portion of a control circuit of a laser printer which mainly converts outline font data into dot data and outputs the dot data. The microcomputer section 10 which forms the main part of this control circuit
Are the CPU 12, character ROM 13, program R
OM 14, text memory 15, working memory 1
6. A dot data memory 17 is provided. These CP
U12 and the like are connected to a bus 18, and an input unit 19 and a printing unit 110 are connected to the bus 18.

The CPU 12 performs processing for realizing the present embodiment according to a given program.

The character ROM 13 stores outline data of characters in the extra-fine and extra-large fonts. The outline data stored here can be referred to by designating the character code input from the input unit 19 and the extra-fine font or extra-large font. The outline data of the extra-fine typeface and the extra-thick typeface of each character are stored in the same data configuration, and the correspondence between points indicating the same part is taken in the order of storage.

The program ROM 14 stores a processing program for expanding desired character data into a printable form. The text memory 15 has a character code, a character size, and a weight (a parameter that determines the line width of a character) input from the input unit 19, and is thicker as the numerical value is larger:
0-1), italic angle (angle indicating the inclination of the character), rotation angle (angle indicating the method of the character), and the like. The working memory 16 temporarily stores data necessary for executing a program. The dot data memory 17 stores printable dot data obtained by converting outline data.

The input unit 19 inputs necessary data such as a character code, a character size, a weight, a slant angle and a rotation angle supplied from the host computer to the microcomputer unit 10. The printing unit 110 is a unit that prints dot data read from the dot data memory 17 by an electrophotographic method.

A process of converting outline data into dot data according to the present embodiment will be described below with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. In this process, the character code, character size, weight,
The necessary data such as the designation of the italic angle and the rotation angle is input to the input unit 1
9 is started.

First, step 1 (S1) is a process of reading from the character ROM 13 a pair of outline data of a very thin typeface and a very thick typeface of a character to be processed.

S2 is a process for performing interpolation. In this process, the interpolation rate corresponding to the input weight is calculated from the weight value and the weight value of the extra-fine font and the extra-large font, and the interpolation rate at which the coordinate value of the outline data of the extra-fine font and the extra-large font is computed Is a process of interpolating according to That is, one set of coordinate values to be processed, that is, the outline data 1 for each coordinate value of a point indicating the same position of the extra-fine typeface and the extra-thick typeface is (X1, Y1), and the outline data 2 is Is (X2, Y2) and the interpolation rate is m (0 ≦ m ≦ 1), the point (X, Y) of the interpolation result is

[0022]

(Equation 1)

Can be expressed by This processing is performed on the coordinate values of all points, and the result is stored in the working memory 16 as third outline data.

S3 is a process for creating fourth outline data by performing hidden line removal to remove a portion of the third outline data obtained in S2 that crosses the character constituent line. There are various methods for this hidden line formation. In this embodiment, the method proposed by the present applicant in the specification and drawings attached to Japanese Patent Application No. 4-274171 is used. S
FIG. 5 shows the result of applying the processing of No. 3 to the outline 23 of FIG. The fourth outline data is stored in the working memory 16.

S4 is the fourth EO fill obtained in S3.
In this process, the shape of the outline data is converted into solid dot data and stored in the dot data memory 17. The filling process by the EO fill is a known technique, and is not a main part of the present invention. Therefore, only the description in the column of “Problem to be Solved by the Invention” will be given.

Then, the dot data is output from the dot data memory 17 to the printing unit 110, and the printing unit 110
Is printed.

In this embodiment, an example is shown in which the data converter of the present invention is applied to a laser printer. However, the present invention is applicable not only to printers and display devices of other types, but also to outline data such as an outline data creation device. Anything can be applied.

The method of the hidden line processing may be any other method, and the method of the filling processing is not limited to the EO fill, and may be another method.

Further, in this embodiment, fonts having different weights (character line widths) are used as family fonts. However, italic angle (angle indicating the inclination of the character), or rotation angle (angle indicating the method of the character) is used. A different typeface such as

Various other applications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0031]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, dot data of a family typeface with a small data capacity to which an interpolation technique is applied, which does not limit the method of the filling processing which is the lower processing. Can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a microcomputer unit according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of outline data.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an output result by a conventional interpolation process.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating dot data conversion processing according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing fourth outline data in the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A data conversion apparatus for converting outline data defining the shape of the outline of a character such as a character or a symbol into dot data defining on / off of a pixel of an output device. Outline data storage means for storing the first outline data and second outline data having a family relationship with the first outline data; and interpolation rate indicating means for indicating an interpolation rate between the first outline data and the second outline data. By interpolating at the indicated interpolation rate, a third family having a family relationship with the first and second outline data is obtained.
Interpolating means for generating outline data of the above, and hidden line generating means for generating fourth outline data excluding a portion which crosses the constituent line of the character of the outline indicated by the third outline data. A data conversion device for converting data into dot data.